Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation
High Copper and Silver Values Compliment Previous Trenching Results From Tanzanian Royalty's Kibara Project
Vancouver, Canada (ots/PRNewswire)
Further assay results have been received from an extensive trenching program carried out during February and March on the Company's Kibara Gold Project in northern Tanzania.
The latest results enhance and compliment the gold grades reported in the Company's News Release of March 27, 2006 with the addition of high copper and silver values.
"What we find intriguing about these trenching results is the strong gold-copper-silver association and their proximity to a potentially large porphyry intrusive that may have played a role in the dissemination of high gold, copper and silver values in the area," said the Company's president, John Deane.
As reported in the earlier news release, approximately 160 metres of trenching, comprising 16 trenches, was completed during February on the eastern side of the Nyakona Hill discovery near where several grab samples in 2005 returned values up to 6.0 g/t gold and 13% copper.
Samples were taken from 16 trenches at Nyakona Hill, each of which contained quartz veining and/or gossanous (weathered) rock with malachite (copper carbonate hydroxide) staining. The veins range from a few centimetres to 30 centimetres in thickness and form a zone that is approximately 10 metres wide. They are hosted within a southwest trending volcanic sequence of rocks (tuff) that have a shallow dip to the southeast. Trenching to date has exposed the vein system over a distance of 180 metres and has identified a quartz feldspar porphyry intrusive in close proximity to the system.
"The grade of the latest assays are consistent with past results in terms of their overall significance, however, the silver values are a very pleasant surprise and are obviously important from an economic standpoint in this period of rising silver prices," noted the Company's Chairman and CEO, Jim Sinclair.
"Also, it's important to keep in mind that in many of the world's largest mineral belts, copper and silver are by-products of gold mining and visa versa. So we are definitely looking in an exciting environment from both a geological and an economic perspective," he added.
The Kibara Project consists of four prospecting licenses totalling some 377.6 square kilometres and is located within the southwest extension of the Musoma-Mara greenstone belt of north-western Tanzania. Producing gold mines within this belt include the North Mara (Barrick) and Buhemba (Meremeta Ltd).
"We have good reasons to focus our exploration efforts on these belts because their brief discovery history is unfolding similar to that of major greenstone belts in Canada and Australia where numerous precious and base metal deposits were found along established trends for well over a century," said Deane.
The Kibara project area hosts a variety of rock types including metavolcanics, BIF (Banded Iron Formation), metasediments and granite. Gold mineralisation can be found associated with Kavirondian-age metasediments in addition to narrow quartz veins and stringers within a volcanic host.
"There appears to be a structural relationship to the mineralisation at Nyakona Hill and the strong gold-copper-silver association is especially intriguing because it's geologically analogous to Barrick's Bulyanhulu mine and the Chocolate Reef deposit in Tanzania," Deane observed.
In addition to the gold values reported previously, highly significant copper and silver assay results were recently received from the trenching program. Seventeen samples returned values greater than 1% Cu; nine samples returned values greater than 5% Cu; and four values were above 10% Cu (10.2; 13.5; 15.0; 27.4). Silver values ranged from detection levels to 87 g/t (2.5 oz/ton).
All results reported from the quartz vein/gossan with malachite staining proved to be anomalous. The hangingwall and footwall rock samples were also slightly anomalous, suggesting that footwall alteration (a sign of hydrothermal activity) has taken place outside the vein structure which is significant in the context of the potential size of the mineralised system.
For comparative purposes, the table below outlines all significant gold assays reported earlier from the trenching program along with the copper and silver values which were not available for the previous Kibara news release.
Table 1: Significant Results from Kibara Trenching
Trench ID Sample Gold Copper Silver Remarks
No. (g/t) (%) (g/t)
KB132TR09 J-8102 3.4 9.20 6.6 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR05 J-8105 5.02 7.55 11.35 Quartz vein/gossan with
malachite/boxworks
KB132TR05 J-8107 10.2 6.01 8.85 Gossan with malachite
KB132TR04 J-8110 3.6 2.79 5.15 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR03 J-8113 1.55 10.45 15.05 Quartz vein/gossan
KB132TR03 J-8115 1.22 10.8 2.3 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR16 J-8120 5.78 27.14 33.3 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR02 E-10946 14.8 29.15 11.25 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR02 E-10949 1.34 9.50 3.25 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR12 J-4938 3.24 15.1 10.95 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR12 J-4939 2.38 13.55 9.65 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR12 J-4942 1.46 4.07 2.95 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR14 J-4949 3.65 1.61 14.3 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR14 J-4950 1.74 0.64 0.9 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR08 E-12302 1.31 5.34 4.3 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR13 E-12306 2.03 8.3 63.5 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR13 E-12307 2.33 0.18 17.7 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR13 E-12308 5.53 22.5 87.0 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR15 E-12310 4.55 10.0 24.1 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachite
KB132TR15 E-12311 2.89 1.07 5.05 Quartz vein/gossan
with malachiteBiogeochemistry Program Completed
The Company recently completed a large regional biogeochemistry (BGC) program over the project area to help fingerprint the extent of this mineralised zone and facilitate a decision on drilling. These results should be available in the next few months.
Qualified Person
The Company's Qualified Person is Mr. John Deane, the President of Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation Limited. He has an M.Sc. from the University of Cape Town (1993) and is a registered scientist with SACNASP (Reg. No.400005/05).
Analysis
Base metal samples were analysed by conventional Atomic Absorption techniques while gold samples were analysed by fire assay with an Atomic Absorption finish. All analyses were undertaken by Humac Laboratories in Mwanza, Tanzania.
The Toronto Stock Exchange and American Stock Exchange have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release
Cautionary Note to US Investors - The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits US mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms on this news release, such as "measured", "indicated", and "inferred" "resources" that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit US registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC. US Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No. 0-50634, which may be secured from us, or from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
Contact:
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